Brake lever



lllllllllll S. H. CALDWELL BRAKE LEVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 23, 1937 JZaczrZ CczZcZweZZ Dec. 5, 1939. s. H. CALDWELL BRAKE LEVER Filed Sept. 23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H (czZcZzoeZZ ly" Z i f fivenz orw- Patented Dec. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES BRAKE LEVER Stuart H. Caldwell, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application September 23, 1937, Serial No. 165,231

Claims.

This invention relates to ratchet and pawl devices, and particularly to devices wherein the pawl is required to reciprocate over the ratchet.

Although this invention can be applied gen- 6 erally to all cases wherein the ratchet is fixed and the pawl is movable against a tensioning force, it will be described for purposes of illustration as applied to a brake lever for an automobile.

Emergency and parking brakes as heretofore constructed have been comprised of a long pivoted lever to which is secured the pull rod or cable of the brake, and a ratchet and pawl device for locking the lever in any desired position. The ratchet is usually in the form of a fixed segment, and the pawl is pivoted and biased by a spring into engagement with the ratchet. A button or an auxiliary lever incorporated in the handle is connected to the pawl and serves as the means for withdrawing the pawl from the ratchet to permit the brake to be released.

It is apparent that in such constructions the full force of the tension in the pull rod is exerted upon the pawl, and that its release requires an even greater pull on the lever than is necessary to apply the brakes in order to free the pawl from the ratchet. The button or auxiliary lever accordingly is operable only upon the application of a great deal of pressure, which makes the operation of the brake awkward and tiring.

The object of this invention is an improved ratchet and pawl device in which the pawl is releasable upon the application of a very small force.

Another object of this invention is a brake lever of the ratchet and pawl type in which the full tension of the brake is taken by the pawl, but which nevertheless is releasable upon the application of very slight pressure.

Another object is to provide a pawl and ratchet device in which the full actuating load cannot be imposed upon the points of the ratchet teeth.

Another object is to provide a latch mechanism for a brake in which the latch carries none of the brake tension load.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and in which Fig. l is a side elevation of a brake for an automobile in which this invention is incorporated;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section.

of the operating mechanism, showing the lever in operative position;

Fig. 3 is a section along lines 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section along lines 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the brake of Fig. 2.

In its preferred form, this invention comprises attaching the pull rod of the brake directly or through a cable to a short lever and pivoting the hand lever and attached pawl to the short lever. Said short lever is pivoted to a bracket, and the pivot point on the bracket is the center of a segment of a ratchet which is either attached to, or formed integrally with the bracket. The pawl and ratchet are given novel forms such that the application of brake pressure causes the direction of force to be in line with the end of the pawl and its pivot. Release of the brake is accomplished by rotating the lever and its attached pawl about the short lever to disengage the pawl, and permitting the tension of the pull rod to pull the freed lever back. A latch may be provided to prevent an accidental release or" the brake.

Referring now to the drawings for a more detailed description, I0 is a rod or cable which is secured to the brake operating mechanism (not shown) and is biased to the right (Fig. 2) by a spring or other means in said mechanism. Cable I0 is enclosed in a protective conduit H which is secured by a strap l2 to a bracket I3. Said bracket I3 is made to fit the contour of the cowl M or other member of the automobile to which it is secured. Although the form shown is adapted for attachment to the cowl of the automobile, it could readily be located in any other desirable place.

The rearward end of bracket I3 is formed into a segment of a ratchet 15 having teeth it thereon. If desired, the ratchet may be formed separately and secured to the bracket. The center of the pitch circle of the teeth is located at it, which constitutes a pivot for a pair of short levers ll. As shown in Fig. 4, levers i! may 4 be in the form of a yoke which straddles bracket H3. The ends of levers I1 opposite pivot it are formed into a bearing 18 in which is journaled a turnbuckle l9 or other clamping device constituting the operating end of cable H3. An exp-- bossed detent on bracket l3 limits the travel of levers I! to the right, and thereby limits the return of cable [0.

It is apparent thus far that clockwise motion (Figs. 1 and 2) of levers ll about pivot I6 causes cable It! to be pulled to the left to operate the brake attached thereto, and that the spring tension biasing the wire to the right will tend to rotate levers H in a counterclockwise direction.

At some point on levers ll, which is on a shorter radius than teeth It of ratchet [5, are pivots 2% for a hand lever 2!, which may have any desired or necessary shape to avoid other members of the automobile such as the dash board 22. Hand lever 2! may be made of pressed steel, the two sides 23 and 2d of which near the pivoted end thereof being spaced apart to permit relative motion between said hand lever and ratchet l5. The extreme ends 25 and 26 of the sides 23 and 24, respectively, are offset relatively to ratchet IE to pass over the outside of levers I! so that hand lever 2| may be pivoted at on levers H. The offsets form shoulders 21, 28 on lever 2!, which limit the clockwise rotation of lever 2[ about levers ll. Thus, hand lever 2i may be rotated clockwise about pivot 26 until shoulders 2'1, 28 abut levers ll, whereupon further clockwise rotation of lever 2! is possible only about pivot I6 and in unison with levers ll.

Pivoted at 29 on hand lever 21 is a pawl 30 which is biased in the direction of pivot H5v by a helical spring 3i. Said spring 3! is secured to hand lever 2! at a point 32 such that the axis of the spring is approximately on a line connecting point 32 and pivot 56. Pivot 29 and point 32 are so chosen that when hand lever has been rotated clockwise about pivot 20 to the limit of its travel (1. e. when shoulders 2?, 28 abut levers ll) pawl will be rotated so that the area of contact between the pawl and the teeth lies slightly below a line connecting pivots 29 and 2E). Nose 33 of pawl 36 is therefore made blunt and the cooperating portions 3 1 of teeth EB'are likewise squared off perpendicularly to the aforementioned line between pivots 29 and 20 to minimize any tendency of pawl St to rotate about pivot 29 through dead center. Continued rotation beyond dead center is prevented by the frictionbetween the pawl and teeth assisted by spring 39.

It is obvious now, that when hand lever 21 is pulled up to actuate the brake, the tension of pull cable H] is transmitted through levers l! to pivot 29, and through pivot 20 radially outward to pivot 28. If the area of contact between pawl 39 and teeth it always lies below this radius, then the brake is always looked when it is pulled up. It is likewise obvious that to release the brake, all that is necessary is to rotate pawl 3!! counterclockwise through dead center.

Considering the relative lengths of the distances between pivots 29 and 2t, and pivots 29 and it, it is clear that a small counterclockwise rotation of hand lever 2i about pivot Zilwill move the area of contact between nose 33 of pawl and portion 3 of ratchet teeth 1 5' past dead center, and that the radial pull through pivot 2t) will thereafter augment the displacement from dead center untilthe nose of the pawl has been rotated to theleft of the line connecting pivots 29 and I8, whereupon the pawl will cease to offer any appreciable resistance to the release of the brake. The counterclockwise rotation of lever 2! increases the distance between pivot 23 and pivot 53 so that pawl 3% can be made to clear ratchet teeth H5 in its motion to the right to effect the release of the brake.

In view of the relatively long hand lever 2i and the shortness of the pawl, a very large mechanical advantage is available to rotate the pawl off dead center. The amount of force required at the end of hand lever 2i to effect this rotation is therefore very small. Furthermore, it is entirely unnecessary to pull hand lever 25 prior to releasing the brake, since this would only serve to lock the brake still more tightly.

The operation of the brake may be summarized as follows:

Handle 44 of lever 2! is grasped and pulled to the left until sufficient force has been applied to operate the brake. The first part of the leftward movement serves to rotate lever 25 clockwise about pivot 20 on short levers i'l until shoulders 27, 28 abut said levers 8?. Such clockwise motion of lever 2i also brings pawl fall into engagement with teeth It and rotates said pawl to dead center position. The remainder of the leftward movement causes levers 2i and H to move as a single unit about pivot 95, with pawl 38 ratcheting over teeth it against the pull of spring 3!. In its fully pulled-up position, the tension in cable it is balanced by the reaction of teeth IS against nose 33 of pawl as.

To release the brake, a slight force is applied to the back of handle 44 until the lever snaps back to the right to released position, i. e., until levers H are stopped by detent on bracket it. The first part of the movement to the right causes lever 2! to rotate counterclockwise about pivot 26, which also permits pawl 3E to move counterclockwise about its pivot 29 past dead center, under the action of spring 3!. The tension in cable I 6, plus the force exerted on hand leverZ l causes a continued counterclockwise rotation of pawl 39 through the dead center position of the pawl with respect to spring 3i until nose 33 points to the left. In the remaining portion of the motion to the right, the tension in cable it will pull the entire assemblage to the right with pawl E l sliding over teeth 56' until levers H are stopped by detent 45, whereupon the momentum of lever 25 will swing said lever about its pivot 2t and remove pawl 3!) completely from teeth it. Pawl 30 will then assume the neutral position shown in Fig. 1.

If the tension in wire ll) is not sufficient to pull the levers to their extreme right-hand position, the neutral position of pawl 30 can be assured by pushing lever 24 to the right to the limit of its travel in that direction prior to each application of the brake.

For some installations it may be desirable to provide against an accidental release of the brake. This may be done by forming a detent 35 on the end of lever i1, and providing a pivoted latch 3% on hand lever 2i, with spring means 3? normally urging latch 35 into engagement with detent 35. Thus, when hand lever 25 is pulled up to actuate the brake, said lever rotates about pivot 29 which causes latch St to be pulled over detent 35 until the two are engaged. The point of engagement occurs just before shoulders 27, 28 engage levers 51. Since pawl 39 cannot be rotated through dead center unless lever 25 can rotate about pivot 25), looking lever 2! against rotation with respect to levers ll effectively prevents the release of the brake unless latch 3b is released. Latch 36 may be provided with an extension 66 which cooperates with the tail of pawl 39 to prevent the operation of the latch when pawl 30 is in reversed position.

The actual mechanism for releasing latch 36 may be made a part of spring means 3? for engaging the latch. Thus, spring 3'! may be a wire having a bend at 39 and a portion 40 which protrudes beyond the handle portion 4| of hand lever Z l. The wire may be wrapped around a pin 42 in lever 25 and the end opposite latch 36 may be anchored in corner 53 of the lever. Squeezing portion All against the lever will cause the portion on the opposite side of pin 42 to rotate clockwise to release latch 36. Protruding portion 4d of wire 31 is preferably located some distance from the free end 44 of hand lever 2| so as not to interfere with the operation of the brake.

Although the various pivots have not been described in detail, it is understood that any of the standard means for providing a pivoted connection between two members may be employed.

The lever system described is relatively simple and requires the addition of but one link over lever systems heretofore used in such applications. The ratchet and pawl, although of novel design, are nevertheless readily made. Although the load is taken by the pawl and ratchet as before, it is unnecessary to apply a counter load of equal magnitude to release the pawl, but only sufiicient force to overcome the friction between the pawl and ratchet. Because of the great mechanical advantage obtained through the lever system, the actual force required to manipulate the pawl is very small. For some installations the safety latch may be omitted. In the cases where its use is deemed necessary, the safety latch does not unduly complicate the mechanism, nor does it require a large force for its operation. The latch does not carry the load of the brake tension, and hence is readily manipulated.

In addition to the improved operation of the brake, it will be noted that the majority of the component parts of the brake can be made from steel stampings.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of one application of this invention, and that the scope of the invention therefore is not to be limited thereto, but is to be determined by the following claims,

I claim:

1. A ratchet, a pawl adapted to cooperate therewith, a pivot for said pawl, a lever pivoted at the center of curvature of the ratchet, a second lever pivoted on said first lever and supporting the pivot for said pawl, means urging the first lever in one direction, said pawl when moved past dead center in the opposite direction becoming locked against the ratchet, said second lever being adapted to move in the same direction as the first lever urging means to shift the pivot of the pawl, whereby said pawl is rotated through dead center position and released, latching means for preventing the shifting of the pivot of the pawl to release said pawl, and means on said pawl cooperating with the latching means, whereby to maintain said latching means in unlatched condition when it is desired to maintain said pawl in released position.

2. Apparatus as described in claim 1, said means for preventing the shifting of the pivot of the pawl comprising a pivoted latch and means normally urging the latch to engaged position whereby the pivoted pawl is maintained in locked position.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 1, said means for preventing the shifting of the pivot of the pawl comprising a pivoted latch, means normally urging the latch to engaged position, and means on said second lever for disengaging said latch, said latch disengaging means being operable from a point adjacent the lever operating region.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 1, said means for preventing the shifting of the pivot of the pawl comprising a pivoted latch, means normally urging the latch to engaged position, and means on said latch cooperating with the pawl to maintain said latch in disengaged position when said pawl is in released position.

5. A pivoted lever, a second lever pivoted on the first lever, an extension on said second lever adapted to contact said first lever to limit relative rotation therebetween, a fixed ratchet, a pawl on said second lever cooperating with said ratchet, said pawl being in a position to lock against said ratchet when the second lever is rotated relative to the first lever substantially the maximum amount permitted by the extension and in a released position when the second lever is rotated relative to the first lever in the opposite direction, an automatically Operable pivoted latch for preventing rotation of said second lever in said opposite direction subsequent to rotation of said lever to locking position, and means on said latch cooperating with the pawl whereby said latch is made ineffective to prevent relative rotation between the levers after it has been released and while said pawl is in released position.

STUART H. CALDWELL. 

